Memo release is Trump's scramble to torch threats to himself – and his circle

By seeking to discredit investigators, Trump may only deepen his predicament – ensnaring his family members and closest aides

Huddled with his twentysomething communications director on Air Force One somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean, Donald Trump needed a cover story. The news that the president’s son, Donald Trump Jr, had hosted Russian operatives at Trump Tower a year earlier was about to erupt in the headlines.

The memo was written by aides to Republican​ Devin Nunes, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, a staunch defender of Donald Trump and member of Trump’s transition team. The committee is investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election, but the inquiry has devolved into a partisan fight about the ​separate FBI investigation​, now​ led by special counsel Robert Mueller​.

Obstruction of justice in the political sense, where Trump is mired now, it’s like quicksand – you can’t better your own situation by thrashing around. The only thing you can do is be still and wait for someone else to bail you out. The problem for the president is he keeps thrashing around, and he keeps sinking further into the mire and muck.